With the curtain closing on 2008, it’s time for me to take out my crystal ball and predict what will happen in 2009.

1- Even with a surge in the polls, due to the Israeli/Hamas conflict, both Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni will falter badly in the upcoming Israeli elections, paving the way for former PM Benjamin Netanyahu to reclaim the title, Prime Minister.

2- Due to continued falling crude oil prices, Iran civil unrest will lead to an overthrow of Ahmadinejad.

3- The earth will continue to cool, and Obama will have to back off some of his environmentally friendly campaign promises.

4- As cracks form in the European Union and talk heats up whether the Euro will continue to exist as a currency, the US Dollar will make a strong move back to parity against the Euro.

5- US economic growth will rebound much earlier than expected, end of Q1, and we will see GDP growth of over 3% by end of ‘09.

6-S&P 500 will rebound strongly from a dreadful ‘08, and end ‘09 at 1132.

7- Despite spending the equivalent of a small country’s GDP in free agency, hated New York Yankees will contend with Baltimore for the cellar in the stacked AL East.

8- With many small market NBA teams taking a big financial hit, look for the city of Seattle to regain an NBA team.

9- With multinationals cutting back on R&D, look for the recent wave of Israeli M&A to continue, as they look to acquire technology instead of building it in-house.

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Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

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Aaron Katsman
www.IsraelNewsletter.com

With people rioting all over the world because of surging food prices, we have started to see a backlash against the cause of the food inflation, ethanol. As global warming alarmists convinced legislators and the media that we need to pour money into ethanol in order to solve the global warming “crisis,” and use it as an alternative to crude oil. So backed by governmentsubsidies, farmers changed their crops over to grow corn, thus creating shortages of other food stuffs and soft-commodities. With smaller supplies, the prices have soared, and now the developing world is taking it on the chin, as citizens are unable to purchase even the most basic food.

What we are starting to see is a backlash against this. The media has started to run stories about the wisdom of ethanol. Better late than never, I guess. The fact that it takes more energy to produce it than it produces. the amount of water used in the process. As if the world is full of spare water.

Hopefully common sense will prevail and we can put an end to the ethanol nonsense. If so, one company that could profit is Ormat Technologies (ORA). The Israelicompany specializes in geothermal and recovered-energy-based power plants. With crude oil hovering around $114/barrel, alternative energy is very much still in focus. But far from a dream, Ormat is a real company with real earnings and real technology. 

The company has been announcing deal after deal and today is no exception. They announced that a Minnesota cooperative agreed to a 20-year electricity purchase agreement with one of Ormat’s units.

Looking for a way to potentially play alternative energy: Forget about ethanol. Do some research and have a look at Ormat. 

Disclosure: Author’s fund holds a position in ORA, he has no position in any other stock mentioned as of 4/16/08.

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Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

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Aaron Katsman
www.IsraelNewsletter.com

Do you feel a chill in the air? Well if you do it’s because there is no more global warming. Now you will probably ask, “What do you mean there is no more global warming?”. After all former VP and nobel prize winner Al Gore said in an interview to 60 minutes (excerpt):

Confronted by Stahl with the fact some prominent people, including the nation’s vice president, are not convinced that global warming is man-made, Gore responds: “You’re talking about Dick Cheney. I think that those people are in such a tiny, tiny minority now with their point of view, they’re almost like the ones who still believe that the moon landing was staged in a movie lot in Arizona and those who believe the world is flat,” says Gore. “That demeans them a little bit, but it’s not that far off,” he tells Stahl.

So if the smug and pompous one himself declares that there is global warming, how can I say there isn’t? Well aside from the scientific fact that there isn’t, the real reason is that the citizens of the Israeli city of Tel-Aviv put an end to it last night. From 8-9pm local time Tel-Aviv turned out the lights. For one hour citizens were urged to turn off their lights in an effort to save energy, and help limit damage to planet. There was even an “unplugged” concert attended by tens of thousands of people, and whatever power was needed was generated by bicyclysts peddling away and generating energy.

It was just beautiful, everyone sitting around in the dark, really making a difference. As an old fashioned male, I tend not to display my emotions in public. But after this event, I just couldn’t keep it in. I must admit it, I shed a tear.

The planet has been saved.

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NEW! Introducing Israel Opportunity Investor, our monthly subscription-only newsletter. Stay ahead of the game and make smart decisions in Israel stocks. Go here to learn more.

Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

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